Westside Middle School Academy is a

middle school Middle school, also known as intermediate school, junior high school, junior secondary school, or lower secondary school, is an educational stage between primary school and secondary school. Afghanistan In Afghanistan, middle school includes g ...

located in the city of Danbury,

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, United States. The school has approximately between 715 and 750 students from grade 6 to grade 8. The school offers various sports for all grades such as

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

as well as

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

. There is also a band and engineering program. The school also has an official health center. After graduation, students move on to

Danbury High School Danbury High School is a public high school in Danbury, Connecticut, with almost 4000 students. It is part of the Danbury Public Schools district. Despite Danbury's population of 86,518 (as of 2020), there is only one public high school, along ...

Henry Abbott Technical High School Henry Abbott Technical High School, or Abbott Tech, is a technical high school in Danbury, in Connecticut. It is among four high schools within Danbury, which include Danbury High School, Alternative Center for Excellence, and Immaculate High ...

and other options. The school is split into two academies,

STEM Stem or STEM most commonly refers to: * Plant stem, a structural axis of a vascular plant * Stem group * Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics Stem or STEM can also refer to: Language and writing * Word stem, part of a word respon ...

and

Global Studies Global studies (GS) or global affairs (GA) is the interdisciplinary study of global macro-processes. Predominant subjects are political science in the form of global politics, as well as economics, law, the sociology of law, ecology, environmen ...

which offers students different classes making the school extremely versatile. It is the only school in the Danbury Public Schools district that uses a lottery to select students into the school.

Jennifer Blue scandal

The Jennifer Blue scandal is a solved criminal

larceny Larceny is a crime involving the unlawful taking or theft of the personal property of another person or business. It was an offence under the common law of England and became an offence in jurisdictions which incorporated the common law of Eng ...

case between Jennifer Blue, now former principal of Westside Middle School Academy, Danbury Public Schools and the city of

Danbury, Connecticut Danbury ( ) is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located approximately northeast of New York City. Danbury's population as of 2020 was 86,518. It is the third-largest city in Western Connecticut, and the seventh-largest ...

. On June 13, 2024, Blue resigned from her position as principal at the school as an investigation into her use of school funds and money was underway. This came after superintendent Kara Casimiro gave information to the police department of the city of Danbury on Blue's case. The investigation into the case continued from June to October 23, 2024 when it was announced that Blue was charged with first degree

after it was revealed that she had purchased several items worth together up to $5,500 with Westside's

debit card A debit card, also known as a check card or bank card, is a payment card that can be used in place of cash to make purchases. The card usually consists of the bank's name, a card number, the cardholder's name, and an expiration date, on either ...

. Furtherly it was also revealed that Blue herself along with the superintendent and others had a meeting involving this issue which ended in the spiral leading to the then further arrest of Blue. On October 29, 2024, The News Times of Danbury released an article showing that Blue had wasted the money on the school's debit card with

jewelry Jewellery (or jewelry in American English) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment such as brooches, ring (jewellery), rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the ...

DoorDash DoorDash, Inc. is an American company operating online food ordering and food delivery. It trades under the symbol DASH. With a 56% market share, DoorDash is the largest food delivery platform in the United States. It also has a 60% market sha ...

, H&M, a trip to Punta Cuna, Dominican Republic and more with a significant portion of the money being transacted during May 2024. Furtherly, a court appeal was made by Blue scheduled on November 5, 2024.

References

Middle schools in Connecticut Danbury, Connecticut Public schools in Connecticut {{Connecticut-school-stub